Social media has not only changed the way we connect with each other, but how brands engage with their customers.

With digital marketing taking over, more businesses are looking for ways to better interact and connect with customers to build stronger relationships and improve the customer experience.

One way companies are providing better service is by empathizing with their customers to better understand their thoughts, personality, and circumstances.

Businesses need to take time to listen to their customers and collect feedback to improve customer relations.

With social media, brands can now be more responsive with issues or negative reviews immediately to provide better service.

So how are brands using social media effectively to engage with customers?

Staples found a unique way to empathize with parents and the start of the new year with their fun back to school commercials.

In the video, Staples creates a humorous connection with parents with going back to school being the “most wonderful time of the year” and engages with customers.

JetBlue Airways is another brand who is using social media effectively to better assist their customers (and they aren’t the only brand using Twitter to connect with their customers).

Since the majority of people are on social media, business who are not reaching out and participating in that medium are missing out on the opportunity to improve the customer experience and build better relationships.

The key to doing this is to not ignore your customer’s complaints or concerns, but to understand where they are coming from and providing them with the best solution or service as possible.

With empathy, everyone wins. You will create customer loyalty and build strong relationships with your target audience; gaining better understanding of their needs and wants.

As you listen more and engage in conversations, customers will feel their concerns are important and feel validated by your company.

In addition, the more your customers feel valued the greater ROI your company will see.

How can you improve on building empathy with your customers? The team at InMoment, a cloud-based customer experience (CX) optimization platform, created an empathy map that allows you to more seamlessly provide customers with a better experience.

An empathy map is a valuable exercise to help you, your team, and key stakeholders brainstorm to find new ways to connect with customers.

During the brainstorm session, take some time to look at the different aspects of the customer journey: thinking, feeling, seeing, and doing. With an empathy map you will be able to better put yourself in your customer’s shoes, finding solutions and new ways to be proactive in your service.

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Brooke Cade is a freelance writer with InMoment.com. When she is writing, Brooke is committed to learning more about helping businesses and sales professionals improve their customer experience.